More Risk Taking…From a Six Year-Old
On Friday morning, K asked me if she could read her book to the class. Of course, I said, “Yes!” right away. I was thrilled that she would want to take the risk to read in front of her peers. K has worked so hard this year in reading and writing. I had noticed that she was reading this book a lot during our literacy block, but I never guessed that she was practicing to read to us (maybe she didn’t realize it either!). She’s even asked me to get another copy for her reading buddy. So, when I told the class that we had a guest reader, everyone wondered who it would be. Imagine their surprise that it was one of their own classmates. K sat proudly in the author’s chair and read her book. I was so proud of her. One of the kids interrupted her saying, “Mrs. Johnson, K has really good fluency like you.” K beamed!! I’ve never seen her be so excited about reading!
I am so proud of her. Reading in front of the class was a real risk for her, but she decided that it was something she wanted to do and she took the initiative to ask me if she could. Can you guess how many guest readers we have for next week? If you guessed that everyone wants to be a guest reader, you’d be correct! So we’ve started a “Guest Reader” list. It’ll take us about 4 weeks to cycle through the class. The best part is that they now have an authentic reason to reread favorite books and practice fluency. K taught us all a lesson on Friday. When we take risks, we grow and can lead others to grow too! Thanks K!!
